Donaldson’s products will filter cooling air for avionics bays on 40 medium-lift CH-53Gs that Airbus Helicopters is upgrading to the -53GA configuration through 2015. Among the upgrades are new avionics and communications systems, including a four-axis autopilot with auto-hover automatic flight control, modernized electronic warfare capabilities, an enhanced glass cockpit and satellite communications. Donaldson’s Strata Tube inertial particle separators and pleated filter media have been designed to protect those critical systems from the degrading effects of airborne fine-particle contaminants.
The first CH-53GAs currently are undergoing certification by the German military. Airbus Helicopters Germany’s Donauwörth facility, near Munich, is performing upgrades of the Sikorsky Aircraft-designed CH-53 helicopters, which will be operated by the German Air Force.
